Dominik Nitsche Dominated and Won LAPT Argentina

By Jennifer Newell
The last stop on the second season of PokerStars.com Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) was at the southern tip of Argentina in the beach city of Mar del Plata. It was the first visit to the country and a solid choice for the location of the Grand Final main event.
With a $5,200 buy-in, tournament organizers expected a solid turnout and separated the start of the event into two days to properly accommodate. It was the right decision, as the overall total of players turned out to be 291 for the event. With a prize pool then set at $1,411,350, the LAPT was set up for an exciting end to the event and Season 2.
Day 1A began on April 16 with 140 players and a number of celebrities in the field, such as tennis pro Boris Becker, Argentina actress Geraldine Neumann, and Brazilian models Angellita Feijo and Vanessa Machado. Poker pros around the tournament room included Chris Moneymaker, Maria Mayrinck, Fabian Ortiz, and Jamie Ateneloff. But only 27 were left when the day concluded, and Ateneloff was the chip leader with 108,300 chips. Eduardo Santi and Jorge Landazuri were tied for second with 96,300 each.
Day 1B brought 151 more players into the mix, including a star-studded poker field with Joe Hachem, Dennis Phillips, J.C. Alvarado, Andre Akkari, Alex Gomes, Veronica Dabul, Leo Fernandez, Max and Maria Stern, and Brenes brothers Humberto and Alex along with the former’s son Roberto. There were 35 players left at the end of the day with Robin Chesne holding 146,900 chips and the lead. Jason Skeans and Luis Jaikel held down the second and third spots on the leaderboard.
Day 2 brought the combined 62 players back to the felt, and the money bubble was reached rather quickly. It was Eduardo Camia and his small 4,500-chip stack that went all-in with , and Jose Barbero made the call with . But a nine came on the flop to end it for Cami, and he was gone in 28th place on the bubble.
Marcelo Giorgetta was the first to make the money, taking $14,120 for 27th place, and the field dwindled from there. Notably, Ateneloff was ousted in 16th place, and finally there were ten players remaining, only nine of whom would make the final table the following day. Finally, Jason Skeans put the pressure on with an all-in move, and Vincenzo Gianelli called all-in from the big blind with pocket kings. Skeans had , and the board came , and that turn card gave the pot to Skeans when the river blanked. Giannelli was out in tenth place with $28,200.
The final table was then set as follows:
Dominik Nitsche 817,000
Sergio Farias 474,000
Jorge Landazuri 428,000
Jason Skeans 338,000
Leo Fernandez 329,000
Jose Barbero 181,000
Rodolfo Awad 170,000
Derek Lerner 151,000
Alfons Fenijn 65,000
Those nine players came to play on April 19, and it only took two hands to see major action. Farias started with a raise, but Barbero moved all-in with . Farias called with pocket fives, and the board came . The set of fives was good, and Jose Barbero left in ninth place with $28,220.
Only five hands after the first elimination, Fenijn decided to push all-in with only 52K left, and Farias called again, this time with pocket jacks. Fenijn turned over , and the board came , allowing the jacks to hold and sending Alfons Fenijn to the rail in eighth place with $35,280.
Action slowed down for awhile but finally found Lerner making his all-in move with , though he was called by Awad and pocket queens. The board produced , and the set was good enough to send Derek Lerner out of the tournament in seventh place with $49,400.
The last remaining Team PokerStars Pro decided to move next. Fernandez had 230K left but pushed all-in preflop. Farias decided to move all-in as well, and Nitsche called both with pocket aces. Fernandez had pocket kings, and Farias showed pocket tens. The board was a complete blank with , and the aces ousted Leo Fernandez in sixth place with $63,520 and Sergio Farias in fifth place with $77,620.
Nitsche was then dominating with almost 2 million chips, and the other three players were all under 500K.
Skeans decided to make his move with but found a caller in Awad with . The board ran out , and the ace high was best. Jason Skeans finished in fourth with $105,860.
Awad made the next effort with pocket fours, but Landazuri woke up with pocket nines and made the call. The board started with a flop, giving the set to Awad, and the turn was innocent. But a came on the river and gave the pot to Landazuri with the better set. Rodolfo Awad was eliminated in third place with $141,140.
The final two players began heads-up with these chip counts:
Dominik Nitsche 2,085,000
Jorge Landazuri 941,000
On the first hand of action, Nitche raised and Landazuri called to see the flop. Betting and raising brought the turn, at which point more betting ensued. The river was the , and Landazuri pushed all-in with . That missed straight was trumped by the of Nitsche, and Jorge Landazuri finished in second place with $211,700.
Domonik Nitsche, an 18-year old high school student from Germany, won the LAPT Grand Final in Mar del Plata, complete with trophy and $381,030 in prize money. He became the youngest LAPT champion in the tour’s two-season history.
(Thanks to the PokerStars blog and PokerNews for live updates.)